New England RadioWatch: June 18, 1996

Portland Consolidates

Mega-opoly has reached its logical conclusion up in Portland, Maine,
as Fuller-Jeffrey announces plans to trade its KKSO(AM)/KJJY-FM Des
Moines for Barnstable Broadcasting's WCSO(FM) Portland, WLPZ(AM)
Westbrook-Portland, and WHOM(FM) Mt. Washington NH-Portland. With
this deal, all of Portland's major radio stations are now in the hands
of just two owners, Fuller-Jeffrey and Saga. Here's how it plays
out, with the most recent Arbs I have access to, Fall '95 12+:

Which makes for 33.4 total -- meaning that Saga and Fuller-Jeffrey will
control a total 61.1 percent of the Portland audience. (The rest is
divided among some much smaller players, notably The Meg Company's
AAA WCLZ 98.9, and the Wireless Talking Machine Company, which has
an adult-standards simulcast on WLAM 870 Gorham, WZOU 1470 Lewiston,
and brand-new WVYH 106.7 N. Windham, along with hot-AC WKZS 99.9 Auburn
and country WTHT 107.5 Lewiston, for a 12.3 total share last fall.

Saga has been an increasingly aggressive player elsewhere in New England
as well, especially by increasing the coverage of its flagship
Manchester NH property, ac WZID 95.7. In addition to WZID's translator
on 96.5 in Laconia NH, the station has applied for a translator on
101.9 in Peterborough NH, in the southwestern corner of the state.
In other translator news, Rhode Island's first translator has been
licensed. W243AI in Newport will rebroadcast the classical programs
of WCRB 102.5 Waltham-Boston.